If the Ravens manage to win two more games this season, I'd say it would guarantee that both Ed Reed and Matt Birk would retire as well. That would be a fair whack more of cap space, I think.

If the Ravens don't win two more games, then we'll probably be in the awkward situation of Ed being cryptic and indecisive again. That really isn't going to be acceptable to this organisation, which is trying to tie up several contracts with different guys.

The problem is, all the guys who are entering RFA or UFA have shown up in the playoffs, and made significant impacts. So not only have they become more valuable to the Ravens, but they know it, and will ask for money that reflects that. It's going to be like Sophie's Choice, trying to decide who doesn't come back._________________

Reed retiring wouldn't actually open up any more cap space since he's a free agent anyways but I guess you could count it in the sense that they wouldn't have to use any of their cap space to re-sign him. I hope he comes back regardless though. The are enough needs on the team that the Ravens don't need a gaping hole at FS to worry about at the moment.

Birk retiring would only give the Ravens a little over $2 million in cap space savings. Guys like Birk and Williams being cut or retiring are obvious moves but it really doesn't open up a whole lot of flexibility for Baltimore.

If/when Flacco gets his deal I'd expect it to be structured where his cap hit is smaller this season then balloons up down the line. The salary cap expanding in a year or two will help to balance it out.

I can't believe it but it might be in our best interest to re-sign McKinnie. With the current lineup our pass pro has turned from a monumental weakness to a strength. I think the best we could probably do in free agency is Beatty or Svitek. I think Aboushi and Fisher go top 15._________________

I can't believe it but it might be in our best interest to re-sign McKinnie. With the current lineup our pass pro has turned from a monumental weakness to a strength. I think the best we could probably do in free agency is Beatty or Svitek. I think Aboushi and Fisher go top 15.

Welcome to the dark side It's just reality that McKinnie is our best LT at this point and we're better off holding on to him until we can draft a replacement in the first round. Then once Birk retires our line is set for the next 8 years or so!_________________XBL GT: SnA ExclusiVe
SteamID: A Flacco Seagulls

I can't believe it but it might be in our best interest to re-sign McKinnie. With the current lineup our pass pro has turned from a monumental weakness to a strength. I think the best we could probably do in free agency is Beatty or Svitek. I think Aboushi and Fisher go top 15.

Welcome to the dark side It's just reality that McKinnie is our best LT at this point and we're better off holding on to him until we can draft a replacement in the first round. Then once Birk retires our line is set for the next 8 years or so!

The problem with McKinnie is, can the Ravens trust him to stay in shape and keep applying himself once a new contract has been signed?

It basically took him all season to get into good enough shape, and to get sufficiently out of John Harbaugh's bad books, to even make it onto the field as anything else than an extra blocker on short yardage situations.

There are Left Tackles who are likely to be free agents in this off-season, but they'll be prohibitively expensive. So I think the Ravens would need to draft someone, or trust McKinnie to keep himself in shape and keep working._________________

I can't believe it but it might be in our best interest to re-sign McKinnie. With the current lineup our pass pro has turned from a monumental weakness to a strength. I think the best we could probably do in free agency is Beatty or Svitek. I think Aboushi and Fisher go top 15.

Welcome to the dark side It's just reality that McKinnie is our best LT at this point and we're better off holding on to him until we can draft a replacement in the first round. Then once Birk retires our line is set for the next 8 years or so!

Easy there. How many times has our OL been set?

ZOMG we got Gaither and Oher bookends forevers.

Good point -- but I still think McKinnie should be resigned at this stage. Take our chances with him being motivated and if he's not, then we lose and we're back to having Oher at LT, Osemele at RT, and Jah Reid at LG._________________XBL GT: SnA ExclusiVe
SteamID: A Flacco Seagulls

Would it be a good idea to attempt to "buy out" Torrey's remaining two years on his rookie deal and extend him? I know that it helps the Ravens to play him for two years on the cheap, and there's not much risk (financial), but I really think it would make sense to try and lock him up long-term at a lower than market rate. I realize that we may be up against the cap next year, but I think with a LT deal for Joe (which would in all likelihood be lower than the franchise number in year 1 significantly), an extension for Boldin and Suggs to push money further into the future, cutting/letting walk guys like Birk, etc., Ray retiring, and other moves that it would make sense to do this. Rationale on our side would be to lock him up long-term and avoid a BIG pay day two years down the road. Rationale for Torrey is that he gets paid now and avoids injury risk. I have done the numbers to the best of my ability based on available info (rotoworld). I'm not 100% sure how the cap hit works from his original signing bonus for extending him, does it act as a penalty in the extension year or is it amortized over the new contract life? For this exercise, I have treated it as a penalty in the first year of the deal.

Basically we extend him for 4 years at 8/year on average, with a signing bonus of 12M (2 per year of the new 6 year deal). I realize that this is a bit below market for an elite receiver (which I think hes on his way to being), but two years away from FA and with 3 years of team control (including tag), I think it's a prudent move for Torrey. Additionally, I think he'd be 28 (maybe 29) at the conclusion of the contract, allowing for another pay day. Obviously we could mess around with roster bonuses, etc. but this is just a rough attempt. Let me know if you have any questions about the numbers.

FYI - the base amounts are based on CBA rule stating that base salary cannot increase more than 30% (IIRC) year-over-year

Maybe, but that's not what Baltimore's front office seems to ever do. They pretty much always let their players play out their rookie contracts and then given them a new deal at the end. This would have to be something done at the later end of the off-season process because of the cap issue. The Ravens might have some cap space available if everything is worked out like that (I really doubt it though, if they did they would probably try to keep Kruger and/or Williams) but rarely does anything happen as idealistically as that.

Maybe, but that's not what Baltimore's front office seems to ever do. They pretty much always let their players play out their rookie contracts and then given them a new deal at the end. This would have to be something done at the later end of the off-season process because of the cap issue. The Ravens might have some cap space available if everything is worked out like that (I really doubt it though, if they did they would probably try to keep Kruger and/or Williams) but rarely does anything happen as idealistically as that.

Yea, I was considering that. I just thought that it might be a smart move with Torrey in particular, especially since WR's tend to take the least beating of any position._________________

Would it be a good idea to attempt to "buy out" Torrey's remaining two years on his rookie deal and extend him?

Rookie contracts can't be renegotiated until that player is entering his walk year. And since all rookie contracts for drafted players under the current CBA are at least 4 years, that means we have another year before we can do anything at all with Torrey.

From the Twitter account of agent David Canter:

Quote:

No renegotiations for rookies that are drafted until after their third NFL season

Would it be a good idea to attempt to "buy out" Torrey's remaining two years on his rookie deal and extend him?

Rookie contracts can't be renegotiated until that player is entering his walk year. And since all rookie contracts for drafted players under the current CBA are at least 4 years, that means we have another year before we can do anything at all with Torrey.

From the Twitter account of agent David Canter:

Quote:

No renegotiations for rookies that are drafted until after their third NFL season

Its a great idea to try and lock up a young star early like they do in baseball, but it can't be done under the current rules.

Damn, I wasn't aware of this. So in the offseason prior to year 4 you can negotiate? I guess that makes sense if all rookie deals are "slotted" and standardized. Protects the team to a degree in that it prevents a holdout for more money after the contract starts as a way to get around the rookie cap.

Yea, I was basically thinking in the vein of baseball._________________

With our cap situation this year even if we could do an extension now with Torrey I'm not sure we could afford it. The cap is due to go up significantly in 2014 so waiting until then really helps the Ravens anyway, although Torrey could have an astronomical year in 2013 and make it really expensive for the Ravens. That said, Boldin's big cap number will be off the books when Torrey comes due.

2012 SALARY CAP CARRYOVER: Under the terms of the new CBA, as passed in July of 2011, teams can now carryover excess Salary Cap space from one season to the next. The Ravens ended the 2012 season with $1,182,378 in Salary Cap space (as of 1/8/13). Barring any late adjustments to this number, the Ravens will be able to carry this amount over to create some excess space for 2013.

Quote:

PRESENT 2013 CAP COMMITMENT: At this time, media reports indicate that the 2013 Salary Cap is expected to be in the $120.9M range.

With 42 players currently under contract for 2013, the Ravens have a present Salary Cap commitment of just under $110M. That number does not include the tenders the team will offer in early March to his Restricted Free Agents (RFAs) and Exclusive Rights Free Agents (ERFAs).

The teamís Cap commitment will change next week, when the team signs its Practice Squad players to 2013 contract.

The main point of the article was that Graham and Oher met the requirements for playing-time escalators in their contracts but this is the more relevant information in my opinion. With the 2012 cap carryover it looks like the Ravens will have roughly $12 million in cap space before they make any moves. That last part about signing the practice squad players will lower that estimate a little bit.

If these numbers are correct, I really hope/think we bring back Ed Reed next season. Even if we severely overpay him, I think his cap number goes down substantially from this season. I really hope we sign him._________________